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Abe Sapien #3: Dark & Terrible

by Sean Tonelli on June 12, 2013

Abe Sapien: Dark and Terrible Part 3; in which Abe Sapien has had enough of bigotry, grabs a shot gun and makes a stand for human rights. Need I say more?

Picking up after last issues cliff-hanger, the small town folk have strung up their pastor and have turned their sights upon Abe. Finding that his words have fallen upon deaf ears, Abe turns to his trusty boom-stick, hoping that his voice may finally be heard. But like every good monster story, things are never as they appear, and the pastor whom Abe is trying to save, transforms into a monster right before his eyes. Now Abe must save the very people who are trying to have him hanged from the very man who saved his life the night before.

Abe Sapien is a fascinating character and an underrated one at that. He has a moral code, not unlike that of Captain America, where he always stands up for those around him, despite his own feelings about the situation. He upoars violence, and will choose words over weapons anyday. It would be very easy for Abe to simply turn and walk away, but, ever the hero, this is not the case. Abe will always choose the moral high-ground which makes his bursts of violence all the more startling. Despite his reservations against raising arms, sometimes a monster won’t stay down no matter how many boulders you smash over its head.

Sebastián Fiumara ends this arc with spectacular fashion. With all the exposition out of the way, particularly the snooze-fest that was Part One, Part 3 features very little dialogue, and whole lot of monster action. Yet Fiumara’s art in no way paints this story as a fun romp. This is not a Michael Bay action-fest, the monsters are disturbing and, much like Abe, the reader just wants our titular hero to get out alive.

Abe Sapien: Dark and Terrible Part 3 is an exciting conclusion to a series that had a very slow and underwhelming start. If you managed to stick with it, then I certainly hoped you ended up enjoying this run as much as I had.